They Say, ‘Timing is Everything’

As I sit here at the home we are renting for the next 3-ish months, in front a warm fire on a rainy afternoon, I’m reminded that the seasons are changing whether I’m ready or not. The days are getting shorter and colder, weather more harsh, and time is ticking away on our deadline. Luckily, Fall came nice and slow here in the Denver area. Mutt was able to take advantage of a month straight of beautiful Colorado Blue Bird Skies to get the framing done. At the end of the last post I wrote that Mutt had some help from friends and finished framing, sheathing, and Tyvek-ing the main floor of the house. We also had some help from about 6 friends and neighbors to get the loft up and into place. Mutt then worked tirelessly and was able to finish sheathing and wrapping the loft. All of the windows were put into place and waterproofed including our bay window. The bay window was then framed. The top was done so that it would blend into the roof and protect the window. The bottom was framed in to become a storage space. By finishing that, the framing on the TH was complete. It was then time to put the roof on and not a day too soon! I kid you not, it rained the next day!

We get by with a little help from our friends, THANKS NICK!!!!

The Bay Window framed in

We knew our days without rain were numbered. Just in case of an emergency we had a tarp system ready but ideally we wanted to have the roof on ASAP. Protecting the inside from any rain damage was a top priority. Luckily it never came to that and we were able to get the roof on without any rain. With the help from Matt, at the lumber yard, we were able to secure BEAUTIFUL Cedar beams to use for the roof. We’ve got one long center beam and then several shorter ones to make up the skeleton of the roof. Then it was time to start using some of the roofing supplies we had collected last fall/winter to complete the water proofing. This includes plywood from a recycled supply store in the next town and a bunch of other supplies from Craigslist-er’s. An exciting part of this project has been collecting materials. We have tried to only gather what we need but our house is only 150 sq. ft., using such small quantities, we are bound to have extras. This project is now entering new phase. We are getting rid of supplies that no longer serve us, passing them along and keeping them in use. This past weekend Mutt was able to sell a bunch of left over roofing materials. Some of them even went a girl working on her own Tiny House! That is a cool thought, one roll of Tyvek was large enough for both of us to cover our houses.

Mutt caught me sneaking out to the TH for a practice!

Steadily Mutt continues to truck along on this project. He is still working his handy man jobs to fund the project and spending any free time working on the house. Another awesome milestone was putting in the steps. They are stunning!! They are Brazilian Cherry that we recovered from a house being demoed. They are the same Cherry hardwood we’ll be using for the floor. They look so amazing and it might be silly, but having steps makes the house feel more like a home. A reminder that we’re one step closer. Once again I am learning that this project is a practice in patience. The steps make me excited to see the floor’s and I’m gently reminded that they will pretty much go in last.

No more ladder, we have steps!

One step at a time 😉 (man I’m full of them!) the TH comes together. Mutt is currently working on the door. Our original plan was to use a super unique old door we had found. It was composed of small carved squares, note I said WAS. The door was also both too wide and too tall for our doorway. On top of that, we are 100% set on having a Dutch Door. The Dutch Door is important for a few reasons. One- so that we can have the top open for air flow without worrying about our dog getting out of the house if we don’t want him to. Two- there is a chance that we will get snowed in and having a door that opens half way up will, for sure, come in handy on those snowy days! It will be an important feature during winter time in the Rockies. So, with that being said, we were looking at door surgery. We moved forward with the door plans. Mutt used his circular saw to make the first cut down the middle of the door. Our saw was just not able to do the trick and the cut came out wavy. Luckily, as most things in the project, we had a friend to reach out to for help. Our friend Sean hooked us up with his buddy who let us use his BEEFY table saw to cut the door in half length wise. This helped to remedy the width issue. Then, Mutt got the door home and attempted to cut some length off and slowly the door started to show its age. The glue started separating in some places. We assessed the damage and moved on with the project, determined to get it finished. Next Mutt had to cut the door to make it a Dutch Door. I’m not exactly sure what happened after that because I ran to the grocery store to get ingredients for dinner and when I got home, our dear friend Steve and Mutt were in the driveway. As I got out of the car i noticed that they were sanding their little hearts out. The door was now in what looked like a million pieces. Still so determined to make this door work, they were sanding the squares with the attitude- ‘we have to sand all of this anyway’. I saw the amount of work ahead of them to make the door happen, and the amount of work that still needs to be done on the TH and decided that we needed to let go. We had to let go of the original plan and go with the flow. Mutt and I decided to get a new door. We were able to find an Alder door for a really awesome price at a discount supply store called Extra’s. A BIG THANK YOU to the people of Extra’s for their friendly and helpful service! It is always a pleasure to stroll through there, this time we found the perfect piece. We love our new door AND it was less work! Sometimes, you have to pick your battles!

The door frame

The bottom of the door frame

We continue to move forward every day with construction as well as the all of the other things that come a long with building a house and moving. We are constantly aware of money in and money out doing our best to maximize our dollars and time. We are learning how to live on a budget as we have some serious costs coming up with the build. We also face, almost daily, the question; “Where are you going to put your house?” We get this question from everywhere, if not from our own wondering then from strangers or, family members. The answer right now is that we have a few options but everything is up in the air. We feel confident that when the time comes we’ll know what one is our best option.

We’ve got a ways to go on construction and for now that is the number one priority. As far as non construction goes, we have purged a good amount of clothes and household items we no longer need. We also do our best to refrain from buying things that aren’t a necessity. We are constantly learning lessons in consumption and waste. We do our best to resist the temptations in society that tell you, you need something to be happy in life. We are always doing our best learn and grow, living tiny to realize our BIG dreams! We’ve still got some major downsizing and organizing ahead of us, that might be what I’m most excited for. We have to decide on most shelving and organizing before we move in as it will all be built in. ((Say WHAT? Custom built everything, someone pinch me I must be dreaming!!)) Hold on friends, things are getting more real every day. Thanks for being interested in our journey. Until next time, sending you all good vibes and tons of love. Thanks for reading!